Obama's Constitutional Imperative

Make no mistake: Although the United States may well be headed for a
catastrophic economic crisis, we are already in a monumental political
and constitutional crisis. As a historical matter, were the House
Republicans to push the country into the abyss, they would be creating a
situation analogous in the past only to the nullification crisis of
1832 and the secession crisis of 1860-1. The emergency is that grave.

So
what should President Obama do? First, he must make the self-evident
case that if the Republicans go through with their threat to take the
country over the fiscal cliff, they will have violated the 14th
Amendment of the Constitution that states: “The validity of the public
debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred
for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” Explaining that the
Republicans propose to act unconstitutionally would immensely
strengthen his position in this emergency no matter what. He needs to
make the argument loudly and clearly, without the lawyerly diffidence he
has displayed.

The burden in this crisis rests entirely with the
congressional Republicans who have precipitated it. If they were to
violate the Constitution, it would be their fault, not the president’s.
The president needs to make that argument as well – crisply and loudly....